The Bane of the Dominarian 10 - Tri-lac Oathwarden
by Jono101
Summary: This is the second installment of a series of short stories based on an Unknown plane that has lured powerful planeswalkers to face the darkest parts of their Souls. This is Tri-lac Oathwarden's story.


Tri-lac stumbled onto the mysterious plane, unsure where she was, but invigorated at the rich mana that flowed through her veins suddenly, reaching every corner of her body, reacting with every nerve. Tri-lac turned around to see where she was: coarse sand rubbed against her boots, waves crashed upon the beach, ocean spread out for miles and miles, dotted with islands constantly. This feeling of blue mana was unfamiliar to the Huntress, her mind clear and full of thoughts, a completely new sensation for her; this feeling was calming and addictive, almost bliss in a way.

A shiver ran down Tri-lac's spine, her hunting instincts sensing a presence nearby; a savage and beastly presence that smelled like prey. Her eyes scanned the plains behind her to no avail, she turned to see a hulking black figure walk out from the deep water; the texture of tanned skin and jet black shadow conflicting in its facial features and large, muscular body. The thing's form got clearer as it approached the Huntress, but a constant shade of black masked any details on its body. Hung in its hand was a large two-handed axe, comfortably sitting in its hand, its feel seemed familiar to this Creature.

The Creature suddenly leapt forward, its axe swinging in a murderous arch towards the Huntress, threatening to cleave her in half. Tri-lac effortlessly blocks the swing, but when her spear and his axe meet, she is flung brutally to the side.

The Huntress jumped onto her feet, her spear shattered and broken; she readied herself for unarmed combat. The Beast charged at her, a voiceless battle cry emitted from its throat.

Tri-lac swung first; a flurry of blows at incredible speed hit the Beast, its forearms shielding its face and chest against the onslaught of attacks. Its arm swung wildly but rapidly towards the unarmed Huntress, hitting her with incredible force that flung her into a rock, winding and dazing her.

The Huntress jumped to her feet, swaying where she stood as her vision blurred. Blood streamed down her shoulder and arm as she steadied herself against the stone behind her, shattered when she hit it mere moments before.

Tri-lac muttered a few words under her breath, casting a small healing charm under her breath to keep her going for a little longer; she knew that it wouldn't hold for long, especially in a fight, but she had to try. Tri-lac darted forward, drawing a dagger from her sheath, ready to kill this Beast that dare defy her.

The conflict ended in an instant, but to the Huntress it seemed like an eternity. Tri-lac stood over the body of the Beast, breathing heavily, blood flowing from a wound on her forehead. She grimaced in victory and kicked the corpse before turning her back and walking away, re-sheathing her blade.

Mere metres from the corpse, Tri-lac's hunting instincts screamed in her subconscious, warning her of something big happening. She turned her head, looking behind her to a horrid sight. The Creature she slew moments ago began to rise to its feet; horror found its way onto the Huntresses face as the Beast charged towards her, sound emitting from its throat but words failing to escape from its mouth.

Tri-lac's foot prepared herself for the fight but something happened that she did not expect; her foot slipped on a wet rock, sending her to her knees, ripe for the Beast's mercy. Her eyes rose to see the Beast standing over her, looking down on the helpless hunter, her pride broken and her courage lost. Savagery began to overcome her body, slowly working to corrupt her body and soul; however the Huntress' mind resisted the savagery. The foreign colour filled her mind, gave her protection from the feeling that filled her soul ferociously. She thought she would die, but she was pleased in the thought that she would die a person, not an animal.

The Beast's large fist came down on her skull, and her world went black.

.

Life returned to the Huntress' body as her wits started to return. A great pain rung inside her skull and around her wrists, which seemed to be roughly and tightly bound by thick cloth that resembles her armour greatly. Her nose full of scents of the forest and its inhabitants, a slight hint of death and slow decay accompanied this set of scents, more than most likely a swamp nearby as well, the Huntress pondered. A scent that originates much closer greatly overpowers the lesser scents of the forest however, the smell of smoke and cooked meat overpowering the Huntress, her mouth watering and her mind drifting slowly into the abyss of instinct.

"No," the Huntress moaned, her usually smooth and almost velvet voice parched by her thirst and hunger, voicing no more than a harsh and unfriendly sound. Her constant fight against the anger inside her was coming to a savage and dramatic climax, every part of her body clashing in a war of dominance for her soul. Her mind returned to her with that word, however so did the Beast's attention.

The Beast rose from the log it commandeered as a seat and shambled towards the captive Huntress, its gait uneven and unsettling; Tri-lac was unsure if it was the blow she took earlier or if it were the darkness, but the Beast's already mysterious form seemed to shift and change as she watched, one moment its shoulder was broad, the next it was slim, its body never holding a symmetrical form. The Beast moved to the fallen Huntress and grunted questioningly, its curiosity sparked by the sudden defiance to an unknown purpose.

"You heard me, you ape!" The Huntress cursed, a spray of saliva spewing from her mouth in fervour, "You will never break me, I know what you are trying to do, and I won't allow it"

A cry of rage emerged from the Beast's throat, kicking the Huntress savagely onto her side. Her hand fell onto one of her remaining daggers, its comforting and familiar grip putting her mind at ease, holding the darkness at bay.

Her dagger drawn, she hastily went to work to cut her bonds, the beast-skin bindings of her armour made hard work and she could not risk alerting the Beast to her plans, but she knew that the Beast would soon kill her. Both heart and mind racing in unison, trying to escape the murderous clutches of this savage beast, slowly finishing his meal of fresh game, but this game was merely an entree, for the meal was the Huntress herself.

.

Struggling slowly against her bindings, the Huntress was free in mere minutes. Her heart began to race as the feasting sound coming from the Beast stopped sounding. Tri-lac knew that this was her signal to try to escape, but needed to time her escape perfectly or risk certain death at the hands of this monster.

The Beast lumbered to its feet slowly and awkwardly, its past agility seemed lost to it now. Tri-lac used this moment of uncertainty to jump to her feet, knife in hand, ready to cut the Beast and make her escape. Startled by this sudden action in front of it, the Beast flinched, standing there confused for a few moments. Tri-lac used this moment to stab the Beast in the heart and escape into the forest, rapidly climbing a tree to escape without trace.

.

Tri-lac could hear the Beasts cries resonating through the forest, deep into the mountain range and possibly all the way to the water. Fear started to build in her stomach as her heart raced and breath escaped her lungs. Her perch on a high branch was stable; however with every shout her footing became unstable and erratic as her leg quivered in fear.

"Damn him." She cursed, trying to control the rage building in her heart, "We need to end this, once and for all."

The Huntress tried to access her armoury, a seed-plane bound to her position; she curses again as she realizes that the seed-plane has not been attuned to this plane yet and needs time to acclimatize to its new location.

The Beast cries out yet again, all thought of stealth has fled its mind as shear ferocity and brutality overcome its consciousness, craving its targets blood like an addict seeking its next dose. The same ferocity clawed its way out of the Huntress' gut, trying desperately to break free of the discipline and restraint of its master. The Huntress' canines grew to savage proportions as the rage threatened to overtake her. Upon her hand finding these enlarged teeth, the fear in her heart grew to immense proportions as her mind started to slowly drift away, replaced by the savagery that she feared most, the savagery of a race doomed to die by fate and chance.

The fear in her heart swelled to such an extent her body started to quiver, her balance lost and her footing failing her, the Huntress fell. She hit the ground with enough force to wind her but miraculously her body was unharmed.

Her vision blurred and her mind escaping, Tri-lac's eyes open to see naught but shadows and trees above, but hiding behind a tree in the shadows, she thought she saw a man, grey hair showing from his pitch black robe, his face covered by his hood, writing down on some form of metal tablet. The Huntress tried to cry out to him, but as soon as her mouth opened he disappeared. The Huntress thought her escaping mind was playing tricks on her in its final minutes, so she accepted her fate and the fate of her people. The twin gods of the Brothers Grimm will never be able to take back the plane of Telaroshia and her people will never be able to survive, for she knew in her heart that she was the last.

Her mind drifted further and further into the darkness until all but a tiny sliver of who the Huntress once was survived, its faint glow visible to none but herself and the spirits of the dead. The spirits of her people.

.

Light suddenly burst from that small sliver, pushing back the savagery as Tri-lac remembered something. She leapt to her feet and started running with all haste. She remembered the last time she felt the savagery threaten to overcome her mind, and she remembered how to fight it back. She returned to the place she entered this plane from. She returned back to the beach and back to the Blue mana.

Tri-lac ran with all her strength and speed to make it to the edge of the forest in time. She ran with such fervour and determination that some of her wounds began to weep in opposition as the healing charm wore off. This didn't worry the Huntress as she cared not for trivial wounds such as these anymore, not when there is a bigger picture she has to handle.

The Huntress burst from the forest with great speed, the sudden sunlight and the unexpected emergence of White mana stunned her, disrupting her gait and causing her to trip, rolling on the uneven ground for a few metres before coming to a slow stop on the fields outside the forest. Small balls of light start to surround her as spirits begin to heal her wounds and strengthening the charms that still function on her body. Tri-lac shrugs them off after the bare minimum has been achieved and once again begins to run towards the water's edge. Behind her she could hear the bashing of the Beast as he lumbers through the forest, slowly approaching the edge with malicious intent.

.

Tri-lac kept running, her heart beat with every step she took; the world seemed to be moving at a snail's pace to the Huntress, her senses heightened and her mind sharpening the closer she got to the ocean.

.

The Roar of the Beast as it finally emerged from the forest canopy containing it was deafening. It smelled the air to pick up the trail; a smile appeared on its disfigured and shadowy face as it started to run at surprising speeds after its prey. It knew that she had nowhere to run now.

.

Tri-lac arrived at the beach, the soft sand gritting under her boots and the warm sun bearing down on her. The Huntress inhaled the ocean air, the Blue mana she desperately searched for filling her body, sharpening her mind and finally defeating the savagery in the pit of her stomach. She turned to face the forest again.

"This ends, now." She yells, hoping the beast can hear her, she knew it couldn't but disregarded it, for she also knew she was right; either she would die, or it will.

.

The Beast shambled through the smooth rocks of the beach, meeting its prey across from it, ready to strike. A sharp pain emerged from its leg as a great spear of Telaroshia bit into the tender flesh of the Beast's upper thigh, cutting clean through it and imbedding both itself and the creature in the stone wall behind.

"So beast," Tri-lac called, hurling another great spear, hitting her target with expert precision, pinning the beast's shoulder opposite to the injured leg to the cliff, "now that you've found me," she throws another, pinning the beast's other leg, walking slowly towards it, "what are you going to do?" so throws a fourth spear, pinning the Beast completely to the stone wall from all 4 limbs, "Eat me?" The Huntress Laughed and walked up to the beast.

She looked into its eyes; a stare of savagery, hatred and fear met her gaze, full of defiance and pride but also respect. Tri-lac knew this look all too well as it was the look she saw every day when she looked in a mirror.

"You fought well, Beast," She said sympathetically, almost respectfully, "But now, you are the prey." She took up her final great spear and plunged it into the beast's chest, piercing its heart.

Upon the final lunge to end the hunt, the Beast called out in pain but its body dissipated, shimmering from the dark form of a hunter into a black smoke, dissipating as quickly as it formed hours before at this same location. Tri-lac's great spears fell to the ground with a clutter of metal on stone, forming a dis-ordered pile around the base of the wall. Tri-lac soon joined them as she sank to her knees

"It's done, I won." She whispered, her mind clear and her heart clean, her eyes closed and she drifted out of consciousness.


End file.
